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Quibble   /kwˈɪbəl/   Listen
noun
Quibble  n.  
1.
A shift or turn from the point in question; a trifling or evasive distinction; an evasion; a cavil. "Quibbles have no place in the search after truth."
2.
A pun; a low conceit.


verb
Quibble  v. i.  (past & past part. quibbled; pres. part. quibbling)  
1.
To evade the point in question by artifice, play upon words, caviling, or by raising any insignificant or impertinent question or point; to trifle in argument or discourse; to equivocate.
2.
To pun; to practice punning.
Synonyms: To cavil; shuffle; equivocate; trifle.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Quibble" Quotes from Famous Books



... pass his statehood bill, he was for the Walker amendment. A fearful responsibility rested upon Congress. The sad fate of a family from his own State, which had moved to California, had brought home to him the full measure of his responsibility. He was not disposed to quibble over points of law, while American citizens in California were exposed to the outrages of desperadoes, and of deserters from our ...
— Stephen A. Douglas - A Study in American Politics • Allen Johnson
... the war into the enemy's camp, the terrified lady breathed again. And no doubt it is easy thus to circumvent a child with catchwords, but it may be questioned how far it is effectual. An instinct in his breast detects the quibble, and a voice condemns it. He will instantly submit, privately hold the same opinion. For even in this simple and antique relation of the mother and ...
— Weir of Hermiston • Robert Louis Stevenson
... malicious aspersions, but be more ready to answer for us than we hear they have been." Dudley's own words are given in note.[51] The only escape from the admission of Dudley's statements being utterly untrue is resort to a quibble which is inconsistent with candour and honesty—namely, that the Brownist or Congregational worship had been adopted by Endicot and his party before the arrival of Dudley; but the scope and evident design of his letter was to assure ...
— The Loyalists of America and Their Times, Vol. 1 of 2 - From 1620-1816 • Egerton Ryerson
... shiver, so did James's. "Well, well—you quibble. I dare say Urquhart has fifteen thousand a year, and even you will know that I ...
— Love and Lucy • Maurice Henry Hewlett
... for the deadest of thy children, even for him who died in his sins. Thou mayest have long to wait for him—but he will be found. It may be, thou thyself wilt one day be sent to seek him and find him. Rest thy hope on no excuse thy love would make for him, neither upon any quibble theological or sacerdotal; hope on in him who created him, and who loves him more than thou. God will excuse him better than thou, and his uncovenanted mercy is larger than that of his ministers. Shall not the Father do his best ...
— Hope of the Gospel • George MacDonald


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